I’ve become a lot fussier about this over time. When I pick software, services, or even how I engage with people, I want to know what I’m getting into. Honest answers and clear trade-offs matter more to me than a polished sales pitch, even when the more transparent option costs a little more or takes more effort.
What I care about
Open source: If there’s a good FOSS option, it gets a real advantage. I like being able to inspect, learn from, and fix the things I rely on. My own projects are on GitHub.
Privacy: No tracking, data harvesting, or selling people’s information.
Ethics: I’d rather pay for something that treats its users decently than save money with a company built on squeezing them. If the business model feels exploitative, I’m out.
Honesty: Things break. Plans change. Just say so. I have much more respect for an honest “we messed up” than a carefully worded non-answer.
AI: I believe AI is most useful when it augments human capability rather than replaces it. I use it to work smarter, but I don’t outsource judgment to it. Anything AI-assisted gets reviewed and understood before I publish or use it, and I’ll be transparent when AI had a meaningful role. I’ve written more about my approach on my AI policy.
The short version
The internet has enough opaque nonsense already. I try to spend my time and money on things I could comfortably recommend to a friend. If I don’t trust it, I won’t use it; if I wouldn’t use it, I won’t endorse it.